May 9, 2014

I should have written this post ages ago, but today is my chance to finally tell you about a fantastic movie coming out this weekend, May 9, 2014, just in time for Mother's Day! Moms' Night Out is an absolutely hilarious comedy that some family members and I were privileged enough to get to see a sneak preview of back in March. The film synopsis from the official website says:

All Allyson and her friends want is a peaceful, grown-up evening of dinner and conversation . . . a long-needed moms' night out. But in order to enjoy high heels, adult conversation and food not served in a paper bag, they need their husbands to watch the kids for three hours—what could go wrong? MOMS' NIGHT OUT is an endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting.

The movie has a star-studded cast of recognizable faces: Sarah Drew from Gray's Anatomy plays the lead character Allyson, a germaphobe, clean freak and mommy blogger who is at her wit's end as the mother of three young children and an oft-traveling husband; Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond fame plays the pastor's wife who does her best to maintain a cool appearance despite her harried life of raising a teenage daughter; Sean Astin, best known for his roles as Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (who doesn't love those cute hobbits?) and Mikey in Goonies plays Allyson's very likeable husband; and country music singer/recording artist and occasional actor Trace Adkins fills out the last main role as the very important biker tattoo artist. However many of the supporting actors are not no-name actors either. Harry Shum Jr. from FOX's Glee has a fairly significant role which is technically pivotal to the entire plot of the film. Fans of Christian-based films like Fireproof and Courageous will recognize the faces of Alex Kendrick and Robert Amaya. Though you WON'T recognize him, Jason Burkey of October Baby fame has a really funny part - I challenge you to figure out and tell me which character he plays. I even realized last week that Abbie Cobb, who plays Sean's younger sister in Moms' Night Out, also stars in a few films of Francis Chan's BASIC.video series.

I can't begin to describe how much roaring laughter took place in our very crowded theater during the screening. Despite the audience's verbal acclaim of the film, there was this little bubbling laughter within me throughout the first half of the movie that kept saying, "Yes! That does really happen!" and asking, "I'm not the only one that does that!?" The first of my favorite scenes was when Allyson was hiding in the closet - my husband turned and looked at me to laugh when that happened... not that I would ever do that... ever... especially not with candy... um. Another scene I could completely relate to is when Allyson attended a book club but states with her wry voice-over something along the lines of "Since I have kids, I don't actually have time to read books, but I aspire to read books some day. Coming to book club however makes me feel smart." I'm sure I butchered that quote, but nonetheless - my growing personal collection of to-read and started-but-never-finished books attests that I can completely relate to that statement.

I myself actually hate spoilers and tend to think that most movie trailers (including this one) give away far too many of the funny jokes (because I have an uncanny ability to either remember the trailer while watching the movie or use that to predict what's going to happen next). Therefore, I'm not going to embed the actual trailer here and will tell you to just trust me and go see it without watching the trailer first. However if you aren't the trusting type, I will share a few links with you below.

While the movie contains characters who are Christian, there
is really nothing "preachy" about its message. The most touching scenes
come from the least likely characters and will have you laughing or
crying - if not both together. The film's main purpose is to inspire, encourage, and refresh stressed-out, overworked, and exhausted moms who just need a break [from the chicken nuggets and laundry] once in a while. Which is pretty much every mom.

My main takeaway on this film is that it is a hilarious, clean (no cursing), FAMILY-FRIENDLY film that your whole family can
enjoy. Although taking young children along seems pretty antithetical to the title of the movie, it's rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action, and there's
really nothing I can think of in it that I wouldn't let my
kindergartener see. (I'm fairly strict on what she watches). However it's the MOMS that are going to get the biggest giggles from this film. In the vein of the classic Adventures in Babysitting, Moms' Night Out will not disappoint!